Uneducated, Greedy Megachurch Pastors Lead Christians Astray

Joel Osteen has no college or seminary degree. He’s one of many.

Osteen studied briefly at Oral Roberts University without graduating, then worked behind the scenes in Lakewood’s TV ministry until his father’s death in 1999, when he took over as lead minister. Why does this matter?

Congregations follow pastors, and particularly charismatic megachurch pastors blindly. If those pastors aren’t educated in theology, what then? What if what they preach isn’t actually in the Bible? What if their teachings are the opposite of what Jesus taught?

This is the case with both Osteen and another wealthy pastor, Kenneth Copeland. Sadly, there are more than those two.

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Osteen does have redeeming qualities. One thing Osteen does that other fundamentalist megachurch pastors don’t do is focus on the potential and inner goodness in each human.

Osteen doesn’t concentrate on sin and sinning, or eternal damnation, like the other fear-mongering pastors do. While this wins him disdain from other evangelicals, his focus on the potential in each human is closer to what Jesus taught and acted upon than any of the sin focussed messages of other fundamentalist churches.

In that respect, and in urging people to access their better selves, he uplifts his congregants.

While Osteen clearly believes in hell, he says he focuses on God’s mercy. Osteen is quoted as saying.

As a therapist, it’s easier for me to work with these types of believers with this cognitive approach.

Where Osteen does steer people wrong is with prosperity teaching. Interestingly, the prosperity gospel is closer to mystical and “new age” spiritual ideas of intentionality and affirmations than it is to the Bible’s teachings.

In fact, Jesus often preached the opposite of the idea that obeying God will bring you riches, and your tithe will be returned ten-fold.

Jesus said in Luke 9:57–58, when someone asked to be his follower,

When asked what more a rich man could do to have eternal life, Jesus told him to sell everything he had and give to the poor. This is a much more socialist concept than tithing to a megachurch so the pastor can afford a private jet and a mansion or two to lay their heads.

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Other pastors prefer scaring their congregants with threats of hell, a “place” Jesus never mentioned by name. The concept of hell came along in the middle ages. The popular depictions of hell and the devil are from Dante’s Inferno, not the bible. There is no clear translation referring to a place of eternal suffering in the New Testament.

Don’t quote Revelation to me. Theologians and translators agree that Revelation was written in code for the early Christians so the Romans couldn’t decipher it if found. It’s the same reason meeting places were marked in the dirt with the Ichthus, the sign of the fish, for early Christians to know where to gather and Romans wouldn’t know their meeting places.

Preachers who scare people with fire and brimstone aren’t truly converting anyone or convincing them to follow what Jesus taught. They’re taking advantage of those who prefer a God who tells them exactly what to do and not do, as a parent would for a child. They are playing off people’s fear to get them to tithe to the church and follow without questioning.

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Kenneth Copeland is the wealthiest pastor in the United States, whose worth is estimated at $750 million. Yet his mansion in Texas is tax-free. Texas law considers the residence of a pastor the parsonage, and is therefore not taxable. His taxes, if the residence weren’t tax-free, would be $150,000 a year. That’s a lot of textbooks and desks for public schools, which are supported in Texas by property taxes.

Copeland, with his televangelism, has massive influence. Newsweek has this to say about his anti-vax stance:

While a member of the family, Terri Copeland, backtracked on Copeland’s anti-vaccination stance during the measles outbreak, and offered free measles vaccinations after the outbreak, Copeland held firm on his stance during COVID-19. He claimed “victory” over the virus numerous times, and claimed he could heal those with it from their homes if they would touch their T.V.s while he was preaching.

Copeland’s ministerial education began in 1967 when he enrolled at Oral Roberts University, but he started his church the same year, without a degree. He didn’t graduate. Previously he had been a pilot.

Oral Robers himself was known for “healing” through people’s televisions. His university wasn’t accredited until 1971. I didn’t find a record of Copeland earning a master’s or a doctorate in theology, which pastors of major denominations pursue. His “doctorate” is from an unaccredited by choice school that requires no prior degrees, which is good because Copeland doesn’t have one.

The schools many televangelists claim they have doctorates from don’t require prior degrees, which all reputable doctoral programs do require. They are called diploma mills for a reason.

These unaccredited schools that don’t require prior degrees to “earn” a doctorate often provide doctoral diplomas in a fourth of the time it takes for someone doing actual academic work. Neither doctoral level research nor a dissertation is usually required.

Theological studies are important for pastors because the Bible was written thousands of year ago in different languages. Various councils, including the Council of Nicea, then decided what book, of the many parchments that were found by archeologists, would be in the “official” bible.

Those books were translated many times, finally into modern languages.

The books of the Bible were originally written in Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew. Some words mean different things in each language, and some of those words have other shades of meaning when translated into English, German, and all the other romance languages. Unless pastors study and have knowledge of linguistics and translations, their interpretations of the Bible are no different or more informed than that of any of their parishioners.

Most televangelists, who put “Dr.” before their name, either don’t have one at all, only have honorary ones, or they’ve gotten them from schools that don’t require any prior academic achievement, nor research nor dissertation. This is in direct contrast to mainstream denominations that require a master’s or doctorate in theology from an accredited school adhering to academic standards.

Who are some of the other televangelists with suspect doctorates or none at all?

Joyce Meyer

Creflo Dollar

Benny Hinn

Tim LaHaye, who also believes he can predict the “end times’ even though Jesus Himself said he couldn’t do it, and that only God knew.

For a complete list of preachers who claim to have earned doctorates but have not, click here.

Takeaway

If you decide to attend a non-denominational church, or to follow a televangelist, do your research. Find out where they were educated and if their theological diplomas are real and from real schools. Read the Bible on your own, with a Concordance if you want to dig deeply and understand the various translations

Before you decide on a non-denominational church, attend several denominational churches. Not all denominational churches are evangelical, fundamentalist, and their mission isn’t to make pastors insanely wealthy. Give them a chance.

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This post was previously published on New Choices.

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